Elevator



T. J. STURTEVANT.

ELEVATOR.

APPLICQTION man FEB. 2a. 1918.

1,391,703. PatentedSept. 27,1921.

4 $HEETSSHEET I. E19 1 3 .2.

1. J. STURTEVANT.

ELEVATOR. APPLICATION FILED H25. 23, 1918.

PatentedSept. 27,1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

T. J. STURTEVANT.

ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1918- 4 TS-SHEET 3.

T. J. STURTEVANT.

ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, I918. 1,391,708. Patentedsept. 27, 1921.

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UNITED STATES THOMAS J'. STURTEV'ANT, OF WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN'OR TO STURTE PATENT VANT MILL COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

ELEVATOR.

1,391,703. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 27, 1921.

Application filed February 23, 1918. Serial No. 218,647.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS J. Srnn'rn- VANT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Wellesley, county of Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Elevators, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representin like parts.

The invention hereinafter described relates to means for adjusting the guide wheels of bucket belts for elevators, and more particularly to means for adjusting the guide wheel for the lower end of a bucket belt mounted adjacent the base of the boot or casing of an elevator.

The base of the boot is liable to become clogged by accumulation of material therein; obstructions occasionally enter the boot and tear a bucket or bucket-s from the belt; the belt becomes stretched and worn in use, and occasionally breaks, thereby causing the belt and buckets to drop and pile in a jumbled mass at the base of the boot. These conditions demand that convenient access should be had to the parts for the purpose of cleaning, removal, replacement, adjustment and repair thereof in order that the elevator may be promptly put again in working order. To accomplish this the lower guide wheel should be quickly adjustable to slacken the belt, to lift said wheel up out of the way to allow access to the base of the boot, and to return the wheel with proper adjustment to its normal working position.

Heretofore it has been. customary to adjust the lower guide wheel shaft by means of screws connected to the journal boxes at opposite sides of the elevator boot, said screws being usually held in different positions of adjustment by nuts or other locking means. These screws have been found to be objectionable for various reasons. Among others, the adjustment of the shaft by the screws is necessarily a slow operation; it is necessary to apply a tool to release and reset the lock nuts before and after every adjustment; the screws and nuts are liable to become rusted and so locked together that ready release thereof is impossible, and it, is diflicult to obtain equal adjustments of the screws at the opposite sides of the elevator boot and correct'adjustment of the guide wheel shaft.

The present invention, among other objects, aims to provide a simple and effective device whereby the guide wheel may be easily and quickly adjusted; the journal boxes for the shaft for said wheel may be given equal adjustments; and the boxes therefor may be readily locked in position and released as desired.

The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the following description of one good form thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of an elevator embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the elevator shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale is an end elevation of the lower part of the elevator boot or casing showing the means for adjusting the lower guide wheel for the bucket belt, a portion of the construction being broken away to disclose parts beyond the same;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the lower portion of the boot or casing and the means for adjusting the lower guide wheel for the bucket belt;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the notched hand wheel and the locking dog cooperatin therewith; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on lined-6 of Fig. 4. I Referringv to the drawings, the elevator shown therein as an exemplification of the invention comprises a boot or casing 1 (Figs. 1 and 2) having a head 3 mounted thereon. The materials to be elevated may be introduced into the boot adjacent the base thereof through a hopper 5, and the materials after being elevated may be delivered through an opening 7 to a chute (not shown) for conducting the materials to the point desired.

rying buckets 14 and guided by an upper sprocket wheel 15 and a lower sprocket wheel 17. The upper sprocket wheel is mounted fast on a shaft 19 journaled in bearings in the head, said shaft being driven by a gear 21 (F ig. 2) fast thereon meshing with a pinion 23 fast on a counter shaft 25 jour: naled in bearings on said head, and having a pulley 27 fast thereon adapted to be driven by a belt from any suitable source of power.

The lower sprocket wheel is mounted fast on a shaft 29 projecting through elongated openings 31 (Fig. 6) in opposite sides of the boot, said shaft being journaled in boxes 33 and confined against longitudinal movement therein by collars 35 fast on the ends of said shaft. Guide frames 37 may be provided adjacent the shaft openings 31, and have flanges 39 secured by bolts 11 to the outer faces of opposed sides of the boot. These frames may be formed to present inturned flanges 43 projecting into grooves 45 in said boxes and serving as guides therefor. To prevent escape of materials through the elongated openings 31, covers 47 may be provided having their vertical edges projecting'in grooves 49 formed between the guide frames 37 and the margins of the sides of the boot adjacent the openings 31. The covers are apertured to receive the shaft 29, and to prevent the. escape of dust between said shaft and apertures, rings 51 may be provided having flanges 53 riveted to said covers, said rings being formed to present recesses for receiving suitable packing material 55 held in said recesses by said covers. The covers move up and down with the shaft 29 when the latter is adjusted by means to be described. .To prevent wear between the covers and the shaft, the rings 51 secured to said covers may have arcuate flanges 57 (Fig. 3) adapted to rest upon the upper sides of the journal boxes for said shaft, the construction being such that the shaft is relieved from the weight of the covers and rings.

The means for moving or adjusting the journal boxes along their guides, in thepresent instance of the invention, comprises bars 59 having their lower ends pivotally connected by bolts 61 with ears 63 projecting upwardly fromsaid boxes, and their upper portions formed to present racks 65 meshing withpinions 67 fastv on a shaft 69 journaled in bearings in upper extensions of the guide frames 37, referred to. The racks 65 are held in mesh with the pinions by guides71 (Fig. 4) projecting from the frame extensions and having plates 72 secured by bolts '73 to said guides.

Suitable means may be provided forrotating the pinions 67 and the shaft 69. To accomplish this, in the presentinstance, a hand wheel 75 is mounted fast on one end of saidshaft, where it is conveniently accessible to the operator. On rotation of this hand wheel, the pinions willbe rotated and the rack bars 59 will be simultaneously moved upward or downward and move the bearing boxes equally upward and downward according to the direction of rotation of the hand wheel.

Suitable means is provided to hold the bearing boxes in their different positions of adjustment. In the present form of the ini 'ention, this means comprises a series of notches 77 (Fig. 5) on one face of the rim of the hand wheel, said notches being tapered radially toward the axis of said wheel. Cotiperating with these notches is a lock lever 79 having a hub 81 fulcrumed on a bolt 83 mounted in a boss 85 projecting laterally from one of the frame extensions, referred to. The head of said bolt is seated in a counter bore 87 in said boss, and the hub of the lever is confined between said boss and a nut 89 (Fig. 3) threaded on the outer end of said bolt and locked by a cotter pin 91. One end of the lever 7 9 is formed to present a wedge-shaped tooth 93 (Fig. 5) adapted to enter any of the tapered notches 77 is said wheel. The opposite end of said lever may be provided with a weight 95 which tends to maintain the tooth in any of said notches according to theadjustment of said wheel.

In operation, the upper guide wheel 15 being driven as described, the belt will travel and cause the buckets 14% to elevate materials from the base of the boot to the head thereof and deliver the materials ina manner well understood in the art. If, for example, the belt should break and allow the belt and buckets to drop into the base of the boot, the lower guide wheel for the belt may be easily and quickly raised up out of the way. To accomplish this, it is merely necessary to rock the lock lever 79 from its full line position to its dotted line position shown in Fig. 5, thereby releasing the hand wheel. Then the latter may be grasped by the operator and rotated, thereby rotating the pinions andilifting'the racks, boxes and'lower shaft upward to the point desired. Then the lock lever is returned to its full line position shown in Fig. 5, thereby locking the hand wheel and holding the parts in their raised position. Release of the latches 11 will permit removal of the door 9 and allow convenient access to the belt and parts in the bottom of the boot. After the, necessary repairs have been made, the look lever is released and the hand wheel rotated to cause the boxes, shaft and lower guide wheel to be adjusted downward to their normal positions. If desired, the hand wheel may be released to allow the boxes at the opposite sides of the boot to gravitate downward and allow the lower guide wheel to automatically seat itself in the loop of the belt suspended by the upper guide wheel and give the belt the tension required. Then the lock lever is rocked to again lock the hand wheel against rotation. The door 9 may be then closed and the elevator will be in condition to resume operation.

The racks and pinions furnish very advantageous means for effecting quick adjustment of the boxes, and since the pinions are on the same shaft, equal adjustment of both boxes are assured without attention on the part of the operator. The adjusting device is such that no tools are required to effect the adjustment, and the device is always in condition to enable prompt adjustments. As a consequence, repairs may be quickly made with a minimum loss of time, thereby materially adding to the usefulness of the apparatus.

It will be understood that the invention is I not limited to the specific embodiment shown, but that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. In an elevator or the like, the combination of a pair of spaced oppositely disposed frames, bearing boxes mounted to slide vertically in the frames, a shaft journaled in the bearing boxes and having a vertically disposed conveyer belt passed thereabout, and means for adjusting the shaft and securing it in different positions of adjustment, comprising a cross shaft journaled upon said frames, a rack slidably mounted upon each frame and each rack having an end thereof pivotally secured to one of the bearing boxes, gears upon the cross shaft meshing with the. respective racks, a hand wheel fast on the cross shaft and having wedge-shaped locking notches formed therein, and a gravity operated dog pivotally mounted upon one of said frames and having a tooth shaped to conform to and enter automatically into firm locking engagement with the wedge-shaped notches.

2. In an elevator or the like, the combination of a pair of spaced oppositely disposed frames, bearing boxes mounted to slide vertically in the frames, a shaft journaled in the bearing boxes and having a vertically disposed conveyer belt passed thereabout, and means for adjusting the shaft and securing it in different positions of adjust-' ment, comprising a cross shaft rotatably supported by the frames, a pair of racks secured to the bearing boxes and slidably mounted upon the respective frames, a pair of gears fast on the cross shaft and meshing with the racks, a hand wheel fast on the cross shaft and having wedge-shaped looking notches formed therein, and a gravity operated dog having a tooth shaped to conform to and enter automatically into firm locking engagement with the wedge-shaped notches. v

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

THOMAS J. STURTEVANT. 

